Seeking edge
Hurricanes high on new department for health, wellness
BASEBALL: Free-agent 1B Matt Adams agreed to return to the Nationals on a one-year, $4 million contract, according to reports.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: All-America RB Darrell Henderson is entering the NFL draft and will not play for Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl . ... DE Kayvon Thibodeaux of Westlake Village, Calif., ESPN's No. 1-ranked prospect in the 2019 class, committed to Oregon . ... New Colorado coach Mel Tucker hired Jay Johnson as offensive coordinator and Tyson Summers to run the defense . ... Tyler Bass kicked a 40-yard FG as time expired to give Georgia Southern (10-3) a 23-21 victory over Eastern Michigan in the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala . ... Lamar Raynard passed for 292 yards and two TDs as North Carolina A&T (10-2) held off Alcorn State to win the Celebration Bowl 24-22 in Atlanta.
GOLF: Scott Jamieson will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship in Malelane, South Africa, after a 68 moved him to 11 under and ahead of David Lipsky (70).
NFL: Deshaun Watson threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins with 2:15 left, lifting the Houston Texans to a 29-22 comeback victory over Sam Darnold and the host New York Jets on Saturday. After Darnold and Jets took their first lead of the game on Elijah McGuire's 2-yard touchdown run, Watson and the Texans (10-4) answered right back. … Baker Mayfield capitalized on Denver's depleted cornerback corps and dubious decisions in leading the Cleveland Browns past the host Broncos 17-16 on Saturday night, keeping alive their slim hopes of ending the NFL's longest playoff drought. Mayfield's 2-yard TD toss to Antonio Calloway with just under 12 minutes left provided the winning margin for the Browns (6-7-1). They snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Broncos (6-8) . ... A stress fracture in his back will keep Eagles QB Carson Wentz out of Sunday's game at the Rams, and Nick Foles will step in . ... The Steelers downgraded RB James Conner (ankle) to doubtful for Sunday's game against the Patriots and activated WR Eli Rogers . ... The Saints ruled out LT Terron Armstead for Monday night's game at the Panthers because of a chest injury . ... Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott was fined $26,739 for unnecessary roughness for leading with his helmet, the first offensive player docked under the rule.
SOCCER: Gabriel Jesus scored twice to lead Manchester City past Everton 3-1 and to the top of the standings in the English Premier League . ... Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty to help Juventus beat city rival Torino 1-0 in Serie A . ... Antoine Griezmann scored twice to give Atletico Madrid a 3-2 victory at Valladolid, tying Barcelona for the Spanish league lead.
WINTER SPORTS: Marc Gisin was hospitalized in “stable enough” condition to return home to Switzerland for more tests after a nasty crash in a World Cup downhill at Selva di Val Gardena, Italy. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde won the race . ... American Elana Meyers Taylor won bronze in a women's World Cup doubles bobsled race Winterberg, Germany, then placed 19th out of 19 sleds in a men's four-man race.
CORAL GABLES — In the moments after the Hurricanes wrapped up the regular season with a decisive win over Pittsburgh, running back DeeJay Dallas, who scored twice in Miami's 24-3 victory, couldn't stop smiling.
It was, for Dallas, a welcome change from the nightmarish stretch weeks earlier, when the normally steady-handed sophomore fumbled the ball multiple times, each of his turnovers proving costly in the Hurricanes' losses to Coastal Division foes Duke and Georgia Tech.
But in the Pittsburgh game, Dallas was back to his typical play-making self, totaling 110 all-purpose yards and scoring on both a 65-yard punt return and a 3-yard touchdown run that capped the Hurricanes' scoring.
So what changed for the running back? Had he spent extra time on the practice field? Had he studied more film? Maybe. But he revealed immediately after the game that he had sought a different kind of help — from Miami's new sports psychologist, Dr. Eric Goldstein, who joined the Hurricanes staff in August as part of UM's new Performance, Health and Wellness Department.
“There was a lot of on my mind,” Dallas “We talked that out.”
As Dallas shared some of the details of his visits with Goldstein, the psychologist's phone began buzzing. It's not often a young athlete is willing to share the fact he's sought help from a psychologist.
It was, though, something personal Dallas had chosen to share, and Goldstein, as he watched, knew the running back's frankness would likely inspire some of his teammates or fellow UM athletes to seek help if they needed it, too.
“Honestly, my first thought is he's a courageous guy,” Goldstein said. “It's not like he talked about getting his knee scoped. Everyone does that. … And from a selfish standpoint, those kinds of things help destigmatize stuff said. what I do.
“When I saw [Dallas], I just thought ‘This is going to be so good for those athletes that are still on the fence.' … For those athletes who may have things they need to talk about and feel like they don't have anyone to talk to, hopefully, this is just another push. We care about these athletes as people. To have stuff go on in your life and not feel like you have anyone you can talk to ... Hopefully, that helps, as other athletes come out and talk about it.”
While Dallas' post-game honesty may have made Goldstein one of the more visible members of Miami's new department, he isn't the only one currently working to keep Hurricanes' athletes performing at a high level.
This year, Miami also added its first full-time sports dietitian, Megan McLeod. And Luis Feigenbaum, who previously served as UHealth Chief of Sports Physical Therapy, has been named a senior associate athletic director in charge of the Performance, Health and Wellness Department. There, he'll oversee a group of athletic trainers, physical therapists, nutritionists, strength and conditioning staffers and a sports psychologist that will, he hopes, work together to help UM athletes achieve success both on and off the field in a number of ways, including with a comprehensive approach to rehabilitation and injury recovery.
“Usually sports is at the forefront of advancing technologies or rehabilitation programs, that kind of stuff. But I think, actually, on this end, sports was way behind other models until recently,” Feigenbaum said. “If you look at cancer rehabilitation, it's a multi-disciplinary approach with nursing and specialists and psychologists and physical therapists and physicians. It's the same with cardiac rehabilitation.
“Now, that approach looks like its finally hitting sports, which is good. I think we're on the precipice of major change in how health care is delivered in the Power-5 conferences and schools that have the means or have a health system they can lean on. … There are resources here at Miami to have an incredible program.”